Bhubaneswar, June 6: While Odisha BJP is decking up the Janta Maidan in the Capital City of Bhubaneswar for a grand swearing-in ceremony for the incoming Odisha CM, PM Modi is closetted with top saffron leaders and members of the Parliamentary Board of the Party, to choose new CM of Odisha, who can fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people.
Amid a frantic exercise to zero in on the new Chief Minister, the BJP national leadership, from among a number of prospective contenders, a panel has finally said to have picked up former Union Minister for Education and Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan and Mayurbhanj-based former IAS Officer Girish Murmu.
Pradhan, who has been the poster boy of Odisha BJP unit since 2000, has recently defeated BJD Organisational Secretary Pranab Prakash Das in Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency and was instrumental in the rout of BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik, who was in power in Odisha, for the last 24 years, Besides, Dharmendra has proved himself as a reliable lieutnant of PM Modi in other major states.
Similarly, Girish Murmu is a retired 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre and was the principal secretary to Narendra Modi during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.He has proved himself as one of the reliable officer of PM Modi. Post retirement, Murmu was also posted as the Lieutenant Governor of J&K.
A tribal from Mayurbhanj, Murmu was appointed the 14th Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and the External Auditor of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He is also the chairman of the United Nations Panel of External Auditors and the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. He is currently the external auditor of the WHO till 2030, succeeding the Auditor General of the Philippines.
It may be recalled that PM Modi during his poll campaign in Odisha, had committed a young and dynamic Odia as the next CM. However, Pradhan and Murmu are not young.
